Is This Really the Internet of Things?

Beside all the marketing buzz what really is Internet of Things?

For several months, I have been writing about smart manufacturing and the Internet of Things (IoT). I promised to myself to change topic, but my recent participation in the annual CSIA Executive Conference pushed me back on topic. The Executive Conference is the annual occasion when the Control System Integrators Association members get together to discuss best practices to manage and grow their businesses, market developments, and trends that will impact their businesses over the coming months and years.

As happens these days at every conference, IoT issues were prevalent—enough to give them their own “unconference” session, crowded with system integrators and technology providers, reflecting the attention to the issues and the need for discussion and clarity.

We are, in fact, in a critical time, when the three components typically involved in any solution (end customer, technology supplier and system integrator) are not aligned in their awareness of IoT, what exactly it is, and what possibilities and opportunities it could deliver in various cases.